An Accident of Fate
by blueberryuponavon
Summary: Palpatine executes Order 66 and declares himself Emperor a little early. General Kenobi survives his troops' initial betrayal, but soon finds that the Jedi Temple is under attack, and Kenobi's former apprentice, General Skywalker, is missing. AU. Really AU. No, I mean it, this story is super AU. T for adult themes.


First story! (Well, on this account...) I don't expect really anyone to read this, I just wanted to share it with my sister.

This is SUPER AU. And probably OOC, too. I'm not very good at writing Obi-Wan in the canon. So I apologise if you find this and hate it. I'm always open to constructive criticism, though, so blast away!:)

I should also warn you that I am not very reliable about updating. I have several chapters outlined right now, and most of chapter 2 written, but I'm liable to be distracted. So I apologise in advance.

_**An Accident of Fate**_

_Chapter 1 - In Which Everything Falls Apart_

All of Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi's senses were screaming _danger!_ at him, but he was having trouble even opening his eyes. His shoulders ached, and he felt a sharp, uncomfortable sensation in his wrists. He automatically reached for the Force to ground him, and recognised the nasty effects of an inhibitor; it felt like trying to pick up a bead with his foot. With boots on.

There was a muted, unfamiliar throbbing in the back of his mind, as well as a much sharper pain that he recognised immediately. He suppressed a groan and managed to open his eyes. His wrists were pinned to the wall above his head. It was a very uncomfortable height for his knees, and naggingly reminiscent of Rattatak. Obi-Wan brushed the thought aside and looked around the room.

He appeared to be in some kind of holding cell. Restrained to the adjacent wall was a young, humanoid boy in Jedi robes, head hanging down against his chest, breath shallow and shuddering. His tunic was charred above the hip where he had apparently been shot. Obi-Wan cleared his throat, trying to get his speech mechanisms to work again.

The boy's head shot up. His voice was shaky. "You're awake!" he exclaimed.

"Unfortunately," Obi-Wan grimaced, trying to shift a bit in the restraints to ease the ache in his shoulders. "Have you any idea where we are?"

"On a ship. I don't know where, but we've just come out of hyperspace." He hesitated. "Are…are you Master Kenobi?"

Obi-Wan nodded shortly. "And you are?"

"Garrick Alturan." He closed his eyes again, head dropping forward.

Obi-Wan studied him with compassion. He was a young adolescent, perhaps thirteen or fourteen. Remembering the nonchalant way his battalion had turned on him, Obi-Wan thought it likely that Garrick and his master had also been betrayed by their troops. Alturan…Obi-Wan tried to think if he had heard the name before, but nothing came to mind. He wasn't at the Temple much, anyway.

He was about to ask if Garrick knew who was holding them when the door slid open and his question was answered. Obi-Wan read the two clones' armour; they had been stationed the next system over from Tetolse. Their battalion had been stationed with Cody's battalion. Obi-Wan felt faintly sick upon thinking about what he would have done had Cody turned on him and he had been forced to kill him. He wasn't sure if he could have done it.

"General Kenobi," the one on the left said with a clipped bow that Obi-Wan knew was not mocking. He felt no anger towards the troops; they were only obeying orders—but _whose_? "We have been informed that you are to be executed," the same one said emotionlessly, and the two pulled out their blasters.

Obi-Wan's thoughts sped up, flipping through the possibilities. The only weapon at his disposal could potenially kill Garrick as well as their attackers, or severely injure him. Without the Force at his disposal, a mental shield would be nearly impossible to set up. But what else could he do?

His abdominal wall clenched, the sharp pain in his head intensifying as he focused on the one who had spoken and was now aiming at Garrick. He tried to narrow it, to keep it from spilling out to Garrick's unprotected mind as he lashed out at the clone's life force and extinguished it with his own. He clinically acknowledged the clone's death as he turned his focus to the other one, who had been distracted by his companion's collapse.

Garrick made a noise that may have been words, but Obi-Wan wasn't sure. His focus slipped for just a second. He felt it splaying outwards and his mind screamed at him to _make it stop_ and he mentally threw himself into his shields, doing his best to bring it back under control. For half a second his world was a chaotic whirling light before he was able to narrow its beam to the trooper aiming at him, and he saw the second clone collapse next to the first.

Obi-Wan felt consciousness trying to slip away from him. He resolutely held on to it. He had to make sure Garrick was okay.

Garrick was sobbing, his body trying to curl into itself and failing against his restraints. Sharp guilt shot through Obi-Wan, but Garrick was alive and he had to move on to the next order of business—getting out of here. His head hurt, as it always did after such an effort, but he couldn't think about it. Obi-Wan determinedly reached for the Force again. He had used it under inhibitors before and he could do it again.

After several long moments, he felt his restraints click open and he fell to the ground, catching himself on his hands. One of his wrists protested in a way that might indicate injury, but he couldn't think about that right now. He forced himself to stand up and took a few steps over to Garrick, willing his legs to hold him.

He found the mechanism he was looking for and immediately stooped to the clone's body, searching his belt for the release. He found it within a moment and quickly used it to free Garrick. He caught Garrick as he fell, hands immediately reaching to clutch his head in pain.

Obi-Wan cursed his lack of focus and pushed through the inhibitor to grasp the Force again. Garrick's shields were a tattered mess. Normally Obi-Wan would ask permission before entering someone's mind, but this was his doing and they needed to get out of here. He stepped past Garrick's shields, clumsily calling to himself from Garrick's mind everything that wasn't Garrick, removing the shards of light. Under the inhibitor he didn't have enough precision to do any real repairs, but he could prevent his own mind from doing Garrick's any more damage. On his way out he set up the best shield he could and released his grasp of the Force, exhausted.

Garrick's sobs ceased and the tension left his body, leaving him completely limp in Obi-Wan's arms. Obi-Wan mentally cursed as he stumbled, bracing himself. He glanced over at the door, which had been left open, praying that nobody would walk past just now.

Garrick stiffened slightly, trying to right himself. Obi-Wan pushed the teenager back to the wall for support. "Are you all right?" he asked anxiously.

"What—what _was_ that?" Garrick looked up at him in confusion, trying to support himself.

"It's difficult to explain. I think it would be a good idea to get out of here, don't you?"

Garrick nodded exhaustedly, wincing and rubbing his temples as Obi-Wan crouched by the clones' bodies, grabbing their weapons.

He straightened, turning to Garrick once again. "Can you use one of these?"

Garrick took it, looking doubtful. "I think so."

Obi-Wan gave him a quick overlook of the blaster's basic features and moved toward the door.

"Did you use the Force on the cuffs? I saw them give you the inhibitor shot."

Obi-Wan glanced out into the hall, scanning for threats. His armour had been stripped from him and he felt somewhat exposed in the light clothing he was left with. "It's not impossible to use the Force under inhibitors," he said distractedly, stepping out and motioning for Garrick to follow him. "Were you conscious when they brought you in—do you know where we are in the ship?"

"No," Garrick said, slowly following Obi-Wan.

Obi-Wan was not familiar with the layout of this particular type of ship, and with his grasp of the Force shaky and patchy, he had no help from his instincts. He heard the hum of the ship's engines from the right, so he decided to head to the left.

Garrick followed him. As they made their way down the hall, Obi-Wan heard the sounds of a fight around the corner. He looked around it and saw nobody, and advanced toward the doorway from which it was coming. There was blaster fire, and Obi-Wan motioned Garrick behind him before looking in the doorway into the cockpit.

He couldn't think why the clones would be fighting each other. They were programmed to be docile, to take orders, and were not prone to infighting. There were four of them, and three of them seemed to be ganging up on the remaining one, who was fighting back in a way Obi-Wan found oddly familiar. He caught a glimpse of the trooper's face and saw a particular scar, stretching from just underneath the man's eye to the middle of his jawbone.

Cody?

Obi-Wan's stomach flipped over in his abdomen.

This was a problem. This was a big problem. Obi-Wan drew back, leaning against the wall. Garrick looked up at him questioningly.

His first reaction was to get in there and fight with Cody. He had worked with Cody for years. They had gone through Rattatak together. He _couldn't_ leave him to fight alone. But if he went in there, who was to say that all four of them wouldn't turn on him? He could take them, but his control was shaky and he wasn't sure he could keep from hurting Garrick again. Besides, taking lives that way sickened him. If he went in there and he and Cody succeeded, would Cody then turn on him?

So he made the decision he almost always made in confusing situations—he waited. Within a few minutes, and several blaster shots later, quiet fell, one presence left in the room. Was it Cody, or one of the others? Obi-Wan heard the trooper approach the doorway and readied himself, motioning to Garrick to step back.

As the trooper rounded the doorway, Obi-Wan pressed his stolen blaster into the man's abdomen and looked straight into Cody's eyes. Fear washed over him. He couldn't shoot—he _wouldn't _shoot his friend. He froze, steeling himself to take Cody's life if he made a move against him. He had no other choice—he had Garrick to protect.

"General Kenobi!" There was something like relief in Cody's voice. "You're all right." Cody gave Obi-Wan a rare smile, and Obi-Wan felt a thread of hope in his mind.

Cody had dropped his own blaster to his side, and looked down at the one Obi-Wan still held to him. "I'm not going to attack you. I—I'm glad you're all right," he repeated somewhat stiffly, looking earnestly at Obi-Wan.

Obi-Wan slowly relaxed his guard, dropping his own blaster, still regarding Cody with suspicion. They stared at each other for a moment.

Then Cody grabbed Obi-Wan in a hug, his blaster falling to the ground with a thud. Hope and relief and gratefulness coursed through Obi-Wan's mind in a rush, and he returned Cody's hug, reflecting in the back of his mind that through their three years of knowing each other, he and Cody never had hugged before.

They awkwardly stepped back from each other, uncomfortable with displays of emotion. Obi-Wan cleared his throat, layering his voice with his let's-get-stuff-done tone. "What's going on? My troops turned on me unexpectedly."

Cody beckoned them back into the cockpit and Obi-Wan and Cody took the control seats, Garrick sitting gingerly in one of the passenger seats behind them. Obi-Wan mentally reminded himself that Garrick needed medical attention. "There are two others on this ship, the ones sent to dispatch you. I assume you overcame them?" At a short nod from Obi-Wan, Cody continued. "We were told that all Jedi Knights are to be considered traitors and are to be executed on sight. My battalion found you two survivors…"

Cody kept talking, but Obi-Wan stopped listening, disbelief clouding his senses. This was happening _all over the galaxy_? Was that the strange ache in the back of his mind, that his _family_ was being _sloughtered_ by their own troops? Obi-Wan leaned on the control panel. What of his home? Had the clone troopers launched a seige on the Jedi Temple? There were so few there to defend it; the Jedi were scattered across the galaxy fighting the Senate's war. Obi-Wan rested his head in his hands.

"General Kenobi?"

No time to fall to worry or despair. Obi-Wan straightened up. He had work to do, and he would not let his fear destroy him, even if his ability to react to it was severely hindered by the inhibitor he'd been given. "Who gave the order?" He asked crisply, suspicion creeping into his mind.

"The order came from Supreme Chancellor Palpatine himself," Cody said frankly.

Obi-Wan cursed his faulty premonitions. His "bad feelings" were almost always right, but he never knew what they indicated until it had already happened. He had disliked the Chancellor since the time that he was a Senator twelve years ago, since that fateful mission to Naboo. At the time he'd briefly confided in his master that he didn't like and didn't trust the Senator, but Master Jinn had brushed it off, since he knew Obi-Wan did not like most politicians. Twelve years removed, Obi-Wan could see and be frustrated by the common occurrence of his master's waving aside of his thoughts and feelings, but there was nothing to be done about it now.

What, exactly, was the optimal plan of action now? Master Kenobi had not made his name as one of the major players of the war by being indecisive. Making sure that Garrick was all right should be very high on his list of priorities. He needed to contact Mace—Mace was currently at the Temple and probably knew what was going on in the Senate. Anakin was also on planet at the time, and Obi-Wan ought to comm him too.

The cockpit's comm flared to life with a moment of static. "Alpha-77, have your prisoners been disposed of?"

Cody looked over at Obi-Wan. "We were told to report after you were dispatched. Should I lie, sir?"

Obi-Wan nodded.

Cody depressed the comm button. He did not correct the assumption that he was Alpha-77; nobody could tell the clones' voices apart. "Yes, sir, they have. Awaiting your orders, sir." He turned off the comm and looked over at Obi-Wan again.

"All available troopers are required at the Jedi Temple. Come in to the F Sector Docking Bay and proceed with your troops from there. Out."

"Confirmed, sir. Out." Cody made no move to guide the ship down to the planet, apparently waiting for Obi-Wan's plan.

For at least the sixth time today, Obi-Wan wondered if his day could get any worse.


End file.
